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Serotonin booster leads to increased functional brain connectivity

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Re: Serotonin booster leads to increased functional brain connectivity

#241

Post by bigmattystyles »

pr0zac wrote: post #73

I’ll probably be downvoted for pointing this out but I feel like it’s important. 90% of the comments at the time of my posting this are great examples of the logical fallacy a lot of intelligent people fall into where they think their intelligence in one area means they’re qualified to make assessments or reach conclusions in fields outside of their own. This would be the same error in judgment that’s turned the noot…

I don't disagree, but, and I've said this before, when I go to the doctors, they (mostly specialists) end up giving me multiple options, including doing nothing and want me to decide which. Mtfkr, I didn't go to medical school, tell me what to do. I don't know if it's a liability thing or if there's a body of work saying that empowering patients to make decisions is better, but it's ridiculous. It's one anecdote, but it feels like where it counts, people don't just want to tell you what to do. In my mind, that leads to the what you're saying. I have also come to the realization, having recently turned 40, that most people, even those we are told to look up to, a. aren't actually that knowledgeable and b. don't really care

Re: Serotonin booster leads to increased functional brain connectivity

#243

Post by boringg »

pr0zac wrote: post #73

I’ll probably be downvoted for pointing this out but I feel like it’s important. 90% of the comments at the time of my posting this are great examples of the logical fallacy a lot of intelligent people fall into where they think their intelligence in one area means they’re qualified to make assessments or reach conclusions in fields outside of their own. This would be the same error in judgment that’s turned the noot…

However I might fall into this trap, VC's are probably the poster child for this trap.

Re: Serotonin booster leads to increased functional brain connectivity

#244

Post by naasking »

danaris wrote: post #227
naasking wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Have you heard (intelligent!) non-tech people talking about tech? Why would (intelligent!) tech people fare better talking about non-tech? Becoming an effective programmer trains one's strict logical and causal reasoning skills, since we're always building or debugging large and complex systems from simpler components. We see all kinds of crazy emergent behaviours all of the time, and learn to understand how such t…

"Sure, lots of people have very rigorous training in critical thinking, research skills, and other important aspects of analysis as part of their scientific, medical, or academic background, but we programmers are the specialest boys who are uniquely able to understand absolutely everything better than anyone else." C'mon; I'm a programmer too, but this is just rank arrogance.

You mean the sentence you completely invented is rank arrogance? I agree.

Re: Serotonin booster leads to increased functional brain connectivity

#245

Post by naasking »

throw4847285 wrote: post #193
naasking wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Have you heard (intelligent!) non-tech people talking about tech? Why would (intelligent!) tech people fare better talking about non-tech? Becoming an effective programmer trains one's strict logical and causal reasoning skills, since we're always building or debugging large and complex systems from simpler components. We see all kinds of crazy emergent behaviours all of the time, and learn to understand how such t…

I think they would fare far worse. Because of the way that our economy is structured, tech people are overpaid and overvalued, and thus have an inflated sense of their own importance which causes them to overestimate their intelligence.

I don't think we're disagreeing. I was specific to use "computer scientists" rather than "tech people". Lots of tech people are not programmers, which is mainly who I was talking about.

Re: Serotonin booster leads to increased functional brain connectivity

#246

Post by anotherman554 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #173
Roark66 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I could upvote your comment twice. Based on my observation how a childhood friend of mine was treated for a psychiatric condition I think all of the "science" of using drugs to treat mental issues is at the level of advancement comparable to medieval blacksmiths doing dentistry. It essentially comes down to "hey, try this, are you better or worse, worse? Try something else. Better, have more of it". All the th…

> I think all of the "science" of using drugs to treat mental issues is at the level of advancement comparable to medieval blacksmiths doing dentistry. Discounting an entire field of science like this, based on a second-hand observations, is exactly the kind of hubris the parent comment was talking about: There’s something about psychiatry and neuroscience that makes a lot of people who are good at engineering/softwa…

"They are using a large body of research, clinical experience, and shared knowledge of their peers."

If a psychiatrist prescribes a placebo instead of a kick to the groin they are "......using a large body of research, clinical experience, and shared knowledge of their peers" that show kicks to the groins are bad for patients, and placebos cause them to report improvements. You can defend anything with this sort of language, it's posturing.

Re: Serotonin booster leads to increased functional brain connectivity

#247

Post by cassianoleal »

pradn wrote: post #201
tnel77 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like HackerNews because the conversations are mostly intelligent and polite. Not always, but it’s far better than my experience with Twitter and Reddit.

HN comments have an air of authority because we so frequently do see reasoned, expert opinions. But it's still hard to mix up mere speculation, shooting-from-the-hip thoughts and well-thought-out comments. It's more pernicious here. On other sites, we routinely see incredibly low-effort and naive comments so we're on guard more: there's simply more mixed-up communities/contexts with different standards to train us to…

HN readers are the human equivalent of ChatGPT?

Re: Serotonin booster leads to increased functional brain connectivity

#248

Post by throw4847285 »

naasking wrote: post #245
throw4847285 wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they would fare far worse. Because of the way that our economy is structured, tech people are overpaid and overvalued, and thus have an inflated sense of their own importance which causes them to overestimate their intelligence.

I don't think we're disagreeing. I was specific to use "computer scientists" rather than "tech people". Lots of tech people are not programmers, which is mainly who I was talking about.

We are disagreeing. In my experience computer scientists are the dumbest "tech people" of all.

I'm being facetious here, because I'm on a forum dominated by coders and it's a cheap thrill to troll a little bit. So to restate my opinion with less snark, I don't believe software engineers are any more rational or intelligent than other folks in the tech field. Most of the smartest tech people I've encountered have been product folks, designers, researchers, or engineering managers who don't touch so much code any more.

The reason? All those people acknowledge that all the important problems can only be solved collaboratively. They're also less likely to have come in through the comp sci funnel, and they have a more well rounded set of life experiences. Tunnel vision is exactly the problem being discussed. It's like if you're really good at crossword puzzles and you think that would make you a good English Lit Professor. That's coders thinking that their puzzle solving abilities yield philosophical insights.

All the best software engineers are the ones with an intellectual life beyond coding.

Re: Serotonin booster leads to increased functional brain connectivity

#249

Post by koboll »

DiscourseFan wrote: post #19

Something in our industrial processes must be screwing with people's serotonin levels because Psychedelics and other serotenergic drugs are becoming the defacto treatment method for a whole host of ailments. I personally suffer from IBS, migraines, sleeping problems, and mood swings, if I haven't taken a dose of psychedelics in the last 6 months. Now, getting regular exercise, eating well, staying hydrated, sleeping…

Serotonin is related to social interaction in vertebrates.

Guess what we're doing a lot less of in person in the age of streaming TV and the internet?

Re: Serotonin booster leads to increased functional brain connectivity

#250

Post by sph »

cassianoleal wrote: post #247
pradn wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN comments have an air of authority because we so frequently do see reasoned, expert opinions. But it's still hard to mix up mere speculation, shooting-from-the-hip thoughts and well-thought-out comments. It's more pernicious here. On other sites, we routinely see incredibly low-effort and naive comments so we're on guard more: there's simply more mixed-up communities/contexts with different standards to train us to…

HN readers are the human equivalent of ChatGPT?

HN commenters like you and I are like ChatGPT, unaware if what we're saying is nonsense; we're full of ourselves and believe have something worthwhile to say.

The lurkers on the other hand are humbler and smarter than us, they prefer reading instead of voicing their misinformed opinion, aware of their ignorance.

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